Guido Berlucchi

The history of Italian spumante passes for Borgonato di
Cortefranca, the place where also began the amazing story of Franciacorta and
its quality bubbles

The history and the making of great things frequently begins with a dream. And
it is right with a dream which begins the history of Franciacorta - today one of
the most famous areas for Italian sparkling wines and renowned worldwide - and
the wish of challenging a historical myth with what one's own land was capable
of offering. The history of Guido Berlucchi, today one of the most successful
producers of Italian bubbles, begins around the half of 1950's, when in his
cellars they began to create the foundations for the realization of one young
winemaker's dream, Franco Ziliani, who wished to challenge the par
excellence bubbles - the ones from Champagne - a myth which amazed and made
every wine lover dream since centuries. The challenge is however hard and
ambitious, because at those times there were no equipments, materials and the
fundamental experience in order to make comparisons with a wine and an area
having centuries of tradition in the making of wines refermented in bottle - a
system today known as Méthode Champenoise - that in Champagne was
profitably used since the end of 1600's.

The entrance of Guido Berlucchi winery

Guido Berlucchi was a countryside gentleman who in the 1950's produced in his
cellars - at Borgonato in the province of Brescia - a table wine called Pinot
del Castello, because the vineyards were cultivated in the slopes of a small
hill on the top of which was found the castle of Borgonato. That wine, produced
with passion, had however a stability problem, because as soon as it was bottled
it used to get hazy. Guido Berlucchi then tried to find the help of a wine maker
who could fix the problem, and it was in 1954 he met Franco Ziliani, an
enterprising young man full of enthusiasm who had just graduated at Istituto
di Enologia di Alba (Alba Wine Making Institute). Franco Ziliani fixed Pinot
del Castello's stability problem and began expressing to Guido Berlucchi his
ambitious dream: the production in Franciacorta of a high quality sparkling wine
which could compete with Champagne. At the end of the 1950's, also thanks to the
help of Giorgio Lanciani - friend and colleague of Guido berlucchi - they began
creating the foundations for sparkling wine production in Franciacorta.

It will take many attempts before arriving in 1961 to the creation of the first
3,000 bottles of sparkling wine having the quality Franco Ziliani wanted for
that wine. At those times, few people had the opportunity to taste the wine and
the few judged that sparkling wine as excellent, impressed both by the quality
and elegance of those bubbles. Franco Ziliani decides to call that wine Pinot
di Franciacorta, a successful intuition since the very beginning: it was the
very first time the name Franciacorta was mentioned in a bottle of wine. The
success of that wine is striking and Guido Berlucchi began to receive many
orders: from those 3,000 bottles, they soon produced 20,000, then 100,000, and
finally hundreds of thousands; the myth of Franciacorta had just began. In his
dream, now turned into reality, Franco Ziliani wanted to make a sparkling wine
having qualities which could be appreciated by anyone and which could be easily
found everywhere at a reasonable price.

A view of Castello vineyard

At the same time, he wished to make profits which could allow him to improve the
investments in the cellar in order to continue improving the quality of his
sparkling wines. He had no interest in creating an elitist wine destined to few
people and sold at high prices. The philosophy of Franco Ziliani was to offer
Italians a sparkling wine which could be appreciated for its quality and also
having a good value, that is a wine which could keep the name of Italian
sparkling wine in high esteem. Today Guido Berlucchi winery is among the most
renowned Italian wineries in the world, leader in Italy for the production of
classic method sparkling wine, the producer of the most appreciated and looked
for bubbles by Italians. The productive philosophy of Guido Berlucchi winery is
still today based on these principles. Despite everyone knows Guido Berlucchi
winery has been the first cellar making classic method sparkling wines in
Franciacorta, this is not however enough in order to ensure a long lasting
success.

For this reason, the philosophy of Guido Berlucchi has been further strengthened
by the conviction it is also necessary to take advantage of the progress made in
viticultural and wine making technologies as well as carefully considering the
evolution of consumptions. The quality of wines is therefore constantly
improved, also working on the renewal and the improvement of the whole wine
range. The history of Guido Berlucchi winery is, in this sense, a brilliant
example of adaptation and innovation according to times, also adopting the most
advanced technologies and their adaptation with the experience gained in the
course of more than 40 years in the production of sparkling wines. With these
presuppositions, Guido Berlucchi winery has been successful in reaching the
ambitious dominant position in the market with its most famous product: Cuvée
Imperiale Berlucchi. In the last ten years, Guido Berlucchi winery has faced
particularly significative changes which began the renewal and the new course of
the winery, the introduction of new quality products, the modernization of
technical equipments and the acquisition of new wineries.

Guido Berlucchi winery's new generation is today represented by Franco Ziliani's
sons - Cristina, Arturo and Paolo - who are getting more and more involved in
the life and management of the winery. Guido Berlucchi winery has now a yearly
production of about 5,000,000 bottles, and despite of this high number, the
quality of the wines is not neglected. Among its famous sparkling wines are
mentioned the historical Cuvée Imperiale Berlucchi - available in the styles
Brut, Vintage, Max Rosé, Pas Dosé and Brut Extrême - as well as the renowned
Cellarius Brut Vintage and Cellarius Rosé Vintage, the latter made for the first
time in 2001. Recently, Guido Berlucchi winery decided to start two distinct
productive philosophies in order to always give consumers the best quality. The
first productive philosophy is about the classic Cuvée Imperiale range, produced
with wines coming from the three most famous Italian areas for sparkling wines:
Franciacorta, Oltrepò Pavese and Trentino Alto Adige; the second one is
exclusively focused on Franciacorta DOCG, represented by Cuvée Storica, a wine
capable of expressing the characteristics and qualities of Franciacorta area,
the heart of the land where Guido Berlucchi winery was born.

Score legend

Fair Pretty Good Good Very Good Excellent Wine that excels in its category Good value winePrices are to be considered as indicative. Prices may vary according to the countryor the shop where wines are bought

Cuvée Imperiale Brut

Guido Berlucchi (Lombardy, Italy)

Grapes: Chardonnay (65%), Pinot Noir (30%), Pinot Blanc (5%)

Price: € 12.00

Score:

The wine shows a brilliant greenish yellow color and nuances of greenish
yellow, very transparent, good effervescence, fine and persistent perlage.
The nose reveals intense, clean, pleasing and refined aromas that start
with hints of banana, pineapple and yeast followed by aromas of bread
crust, acacia, hawthorn, pear, apple, hazelnut and grapefruit. The mouth
has good correspondence to the nose, an effervescent and crisp attack,
however balanced by alcohol, good body, intense flavors. The finish is
persistent with flavors of banana, pineapple and apple. Cuvée Imperiale
Brut is produced with the classic method and ages in bottle on its lees for
at least 18 months.

Food Match: Crustaceans and fish appetizers, Pasta and risotto with fish and crustaceans

Cuvée Imperiale Pas Dosé

Guido Berlucchi (Lombardy, Italy)

Grapes: Chardonnay (65%), Pinot Noir (30%), Pinot Blanc (5%)

Price: € 13.00

Score:

This wine shows a pale straw yellow color and nuances of greenish yellow,
very transparent, good effervescence, fine and persistent perlage. The nose
denotes intense, clean, pleasing and refined aromas which start with hints
of bread crust, yeast and grapefruit followed by aromas of pineapple,
banana, hawthorn, mineral, hazelnut, apple and plum. The mouth has good
correspondence to the nose, an effervescent and crisp attack, however
balanced by alcohol, good body, intense flavors. The finish is persistent
with flavors of plum, grapefruit and pineapple. Cuvée Imperiale Pas Dosé
is produced with the classic method and ages in bottle on its lees for at
least 18 months.

Cuvée Imperiale Max Rosé

Guido Berlucchi (Lombardy, Italy)

Grapes: Chardonnay (45%), Pinot Noir (50%), Pinot Blanc (5%)

Price: € 15.00

Score:

This wine shows a pale onion skin color and nuances of onion skin pink,
very transparent, good effervescence, fine and persistent perlage. The nose
reveals intense, clean, pleasing, refined and elegant aromas that start
with hints of raspberry, cherry and strawberry followed by aromas of yeast,
bread crust, blueberry, hazelnut, pink grapefruit, apple and plum. The
mouth has good correspondence to the nose, an effervescent and crisp
attack, however balanced by alcohol, good body, intense flavors, agreeable.
The finish is persistent with flavors of raspberry, cherry and plum. Cuvée
Imperiale Max Rosé is produced with the classic method and ages in bottle
on its lees for at least 18 months.

Cellarius Brut 2002

Guido Berlucchi (Lombardy, Italy)

Grapes: Chardonnay (80%), Pinot Noir (15%), Pinot Blanc (5%)

Price: € 19.00

Score:

Cellarius Brut shows an intense greenish yellow color and nuances of
greenish yellow, very transparent, good effervescence, fine and persistent
perlage. The nose reveals intense, clean, pleasing, refined and elegant
aromas which start with hints of citrus fruits, bread crust and grapefruit
followed by aromas of banana, yeast, pineapple, acacia, butter, apple,
hazelnut and pear. The mouth has good correspondence to the nose, an
effervescent and crisp attack, however balanced by alcohol, good body,
intense flavors, agreeable. The finish is persistent with flavors of
banana, hazelnut and grapefruit. A small part of the base wine is vinified
in barrique. Cellarius Brut is produced with the classic method and ages in
bottle on its lees for at least 30 months.

Cellarius Rosé 2002

Guido Berlucchi (Lombardy, Italy)

Grapes: Chardonnay (45%), Pinot Noir (55%)

Price: € 21.00

Score:

Cellarius Rosé shows a pale brilliant pink color and nuances of pale pink,
very transparent, good effervescence, fine and persistent perlage. The nose
denotes intense, clean, pleasing and refined aromas which start with hints
of raspberry, cherry and yeast followed by aromas of arbutus berry, bread
crust, banana, pineapple, strawberry, pear and tangerine. The mouth has
good correspondence to the nose, an effervescent and crisp attack, however
balanced by alcohol, good body, intense flavors, agreeable. The finish is
persistent with flavors of raspberry, cherry and pineapple. Cellarius Rosé
is produced with the classic method and ages in bottle on its lees for at
least 30 months.

Franciacorta Brut Cuvée Storica

Guido Berlucchi (Lombardy, Italy)

Grapes: Chardonnay (95%), Pinot Noir (5%)

Price: € 19.00

Score:

This Franciacorta shows a brilliant greenish yellow color and nuances of
greenish yellow, very transparent, good effervescence, fine and persistent
perlage. The nose denotes intense, clean, pleasing and refined aromas which
start with hints of bread crust, yeast and banana followed by aromas of
acacia, citrus fruits, pineapple, plum, mineral, hazelnut and pear. The
mouth has good correspondence to the nose, an effervescent and crisp
attack, however balanced by alcohol, good body, intense flavors, agreeable.
The finish is persistent with flavors of apple, banana and plum. A small
part of the Chardonnay and all the Pinot Noir used for the base wine is
fermented in barrique. Franciacorta Cuvée Storica ages in bottle on its
lees for at least 24 months.

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